China launches aggressive political power-play to undermine U.S. midterm elections [Updated]
Chinese military officials on Saturday threatened U.S. midterm elections in November and warned Washington against meddling in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun said the threats were issued in a “personal” capacity, and the government “will handle the matter firmly.”
Yang said that China’s Ministry of National Defense has not taken steps to disrupt the November elections because it “does not want to influence the U.S. presidential election.”
Yang also made it clear that China “will not allow the U.S. to interfere in our internal affairs,” adding: “China’s military has completed its analysis of the U.S. midterm elections and will take countermeasures.”
Yang’s comments come as the U.S. Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency are conducting a “full range” of foreign influence operations with the aim of disrupting the November elections.
In a press briefing last week, Defense Secretary James Mattis said any actions from outside the U.S. would be “counterproductive to the people of the United States who elect a President in the November 6 election.”
The U.S. is also using “covert means” to try to undermine the midterm elections.
In a sign that the Pentagon is preparing for the possibility of foreign interference, the Pentagon said Friday that it will dispatch more than 2,000 Defense Department personnel to help train election security officials.
And in an annual report on election security, the Pentagon said the U.S. military “will continue to aggressively monitor all online threats to election infrastructure and conduct cyber operations with the goal of preventing voter harassment.”
Mattis also made a point of noting that the Department does not encourage political demonstrations of any kind. The Pentagon said it “does not condone or support political demonstrations of any kind — from demonstrations that block streets or choke traffic, to rallies where a few hundred are protesting against an unpopular policy, or even demonstrations where political rhetoric is at its most inflammatory.”
Mattis also